Exploring Monroe County’s Past: An Archaeological Survey of Indiana University and Sycamore Land Trust Nature Preserves

The Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology (GBL) at Indiana University conducted an archaeological survey in Monroe County, Indiana for a FY2017 Historic Preservation Fund Grant (18-17-17FFY#-03). This project was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund (CFDA #15.904) administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. This grant project explored the history and cultural resources of the Beanblossom Creek watershed in northern Monroe County. Approximately 511.5 acres (207 hectares) of nature preserves were surveyed as part of the project, resulting in the identification of 56 new archaeological sites and one new cemetery. A total of 833 artifacts (547 precontact and 286 historic) were recovered from nine different nature preserves. Cultural periods represented in the survey assemblage include unidentified precontact, Middle Woodland, and nineteenth-twentieth century historic components.